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Wirth said the traditional nuclear and coal-fired plants will continue to produce most energy, instead of natural gas or green energy. As an example, the Susquehanna nuclear power plant produces about 2,600 megawatts of electricity, enough for approximately 2 million homes. There will be some natural gas plants, but renewable energy will not replace the big three.

"From a corporate standpoint coal is going to be a part of the generating mix for a long time," Wirth said. "We have hydro, wind and trash-to-energy, where we collect the methane and burn it to generate electricity. We have a lot of solar. The biggest plants are still nuclear, coal- and gas-fired, and will continue to be part of the grid for a long time."

Dudkin said new energy plants are going with natural gas.

"The biggest impact on energy supply is the natural gas availability in the state, and the cost of natural gas," Dudkin said. "What we're seeing, but not within our company, is the new generation that is going in is natural gas-fired. It's because of Marcellus Shale, and cheap energy."

Wirth said PPL customers still benefit from natural gas prices because it keeps the wholesale price of electricity low, and sources of renewable energy are not reliable enough to make electricity. Some PPL customers have put up solar panels, and some have even put up wind turbines.

"Wind doesn't blow on the hottest days, so you need other plants to be generating at that time," Wirth said. "Some customers have solar panels, but the price of those technologies is still pretty high. The customers have to decide if it is going to pay for itself over time. We're not a state where solar is heavily in use, like somewhere in the Southwest."

Electric prices

PPL Electric Utilities is responsible for the delivery of energy, for the transmission and distribution system.

"By regulation, we are not allowed to own any generation," Dudkin said. "If somebody does not want to buy power from another supplier, we offer what is called default service. We request bids from suppliers to supply the energy. We select the lowest cost, and pass in onto the consumer. We don't make any money on that at all."

Dudkin explained that other companies offer electricity, and can be found at papowerswitch.com

"There are 20 suppliers offering a fixed rate cheaper than us," Dudkin said. "There are savings to be had for consumers; 670,000 of our customers are shopping. That's the largest number in the state."

Power outages

As PPL replaces some of its older equipment, or when the equipment fails, there will be an interruption of power.

Sepich said PPL notifies customers of intentional outages well in advance.

"We might have a pole that is being replaced that has an overhead transformer that serves customers," Sepich said. "We would be notifying them at least two weeks in advance. We would update them a few days before to let them know that we are definitely planning to do the outage that day. If there is a hardship issue, they can call us and we will try to coordinate a better date."

Sepich also explained when equipment fails, the power may go out until crews can repair the damage. Customers should look for signs, like a PPL truck, flagmen or road construction signs up.

"We may inspect a facility and find a very hazardous condition," Sepich said. "We have to take that interruption in the interest of public safety, and to prevent an unplanned interruption."

Some planned outages are scheduled in the winter, Sepich said.

"We have a certain staffing level, and certain projects going on, so we try to levelize that work throughout the winter," Sepich said. "Prior to 2014, we've had the luxury of some mild winters. We deal with the situation based on the uniqueness of the situation. we try to work collaboratively with customers to mitigate the impact."

Storm assistance

When a winter or summer storm hits, PPL can call on people from its various divisions, or outside the company - which could mean outside Pennsylvania - to help.

"Typically (storms are) more common in summer, but in the last couple years fall and winter have been bad, too," Dudkin said. "During Hurricane Sandy, we used (PPL) generation supply employees. We are part of mutual assistance group. For the storm we had in Lancaster two weeks ago we had lineman from Georgia and Alabama come up and help us."

PPL also calls on employees of other utilities it owns across the country

"Two or three years ago, we acquired a sister utility in Kentucky," Sepich said. "During (Hurricane) Sandy in 2012, we were able to mobilize 100 linemen to help us restore customers in the PPL service area, for ice storms Lancaster County."

During the deregulation of the electric industry in the 1990s, PPL downsized, but took advantage of the situation and bought power companies outside territory, and outside the country.

The company is now bigger than ever.

"Corporatively, it (employment) is significantly larger," Wirth said. "It is well over 20,000 employees, which is a high."

PPL benefits from those associations, Wirth said.

"We are sharing best practices," Wirth said. "Some of our utilities in the U.K. (United Kingdom) are the best-run utilities in U.K. We look at what they do as we continue to try to operate more efficiently and keep our costs down. That benefits our customers as well."

Dudkin said in the next decade or so, PPL will be replacing about half of its workforce, and is in need of both people with college degrees, as well as people with trained in the trades.

jdino@standardspeaker.com

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